Chapter 6

Kurama was as blunt as a hammer, "You don't have chakra coils in your body, kid."

Naruto's reaction was priceless, "WHAAAAT?!"

Kurama chuckled. Naruto's reaction to surprises was turning out to be very amusing. He watched as Naruto seemed to have a panic attack within his own mind. The mind responded to his mental state, shaking violently. Kurama understood just how much that had rattled Naruto.

"Calm down Naruto! I wasn't finished!" he shouted. Seeing how Naruto was showing no signs of calming down, Kurama let loose a small bit of his killing intent, enough to make a jonin sweat.

Naruto, however, was totally inexperienced in experiencing killing intents, therefore his reaction was entirely predictable to Kurama. Naruto instantly froze in his place, all thoughts of Kurama's news fleeing his mind as he registered the new feeling. The mindscape stopped shaking as Naruto slowly turned towards Kurama.

Voice shaking, he asked Kurama, "W-what was t-that?"

Kurama stared Naruto in the eye, indicating he was serious, "That was killing intent. Usually used by shinobis to intimidate each other. Whoever has the higher killing intent is able to make the other suffer illusions of death, if the killing intent is potent enough. I'm surprised though, that you managed to stay conscious", he said with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto was taking deep breaths during Kurama's explanation, trying to calm down. By the end of the explanation, he was almost back to his normal self.

Scowling a bit, he asked, "And you thought that was the best way to calm someone who is having a panic attack?!"

Shrugging a bit, Kurama defended himself, "You have to start someday. Also, that was only a little of my killing intent. You have yet to experience my full killing intent", he finished, grinning maliciously in the end.

Naruto, for his credit, showed no reaction and kept his face neutral. He would deal with this some other day. For now, he had to focus on his chakra problem.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "What were you saying about my chakra coils before?"

Kurama sat up, towering over Naruto, who had to look up towards him, "As I said, there are no chakra coils in your body. But that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. At least, not yet. You have to first unlock your chakra so I can see if this is a problem or not."

Naruto nodded, now fully in control of his emotions. He then gestured towards the lake, "What is that? I don't remember seeing it yesterday when I changed my mindscape."

Kurama nodded at him, "You would be right. However, do you remember your question to me concerning trauma and your mindscape?"

Naruto tilted his head, his eyes agreeing to Kurama's question.

Kurama said, "Well, that theory applies to this lake as well. You may change your mindscape to anything, but there will always be a representation of what is already there, within your mind and body."

Gesturing to the lake, he explained, "There are two things of importance that you need to know about this lake. Obviously, this represents your chakra, but there are some other things as well.

"The size of this lake represents the size of your reserves. I have minor difficulty in seeing the end of this lake, which means your reserves are impressively large for your age. The depth of this lake represents the density of your chakra. The deeper it is, the denser and more powerful your chakra is."

Naruto was listening intently to Kurama. He had to admit, he couldn't see the other side of the lake, which meant that his reserves would have to be very large. The question that now remained was how deep the lake was.

As if reading his mind [See what I did there?] Kurama nodded knowingly, "You have to dive inside the lake to find out how deep it is. Before you do that, touch the water and tell me what you feel."

Naruto frowned in confusion at the odd request, but nodded. He touched the water and instantly his frown deepened, as if he didn't like the feeling.

Kurama turned his head towards him, asking, "What do you feel, Naruto?"

Naruto removed his hand from the lake, saying, "Like it's incomplete. Something else should be there but it's not."

Kurama nodded his head in agreement, "Okay, that missing thing is your chakra. Once you unlock your chakra, that feeling will be gone. Now, get into the lake and unlock it!" he almost ordered Naruto.

Naruto thought for a moment about how to proceed with this. Deciding it, he jumped inside taking a deep breath.

He swam his hands forward in a sharp motion, pulling them back to go deeper. He kept swimming for what felt like eternity. 'How deep is this lake? How dense is my chakra?!' thoughts like these kept running through his head as he continued to go deeper. Strangely, he felt no need to breathe in this lake. 'Must be because I'm swimming in my own mind', he deduced. Finally, he saw what appeared to be the bottom. His efforts to reach there hastened.

As soon as his hands touched the floor of the lake, he instinctively knew that his chakra was just beneath his him. The floor of the lake was acting as a barrier between him and his chakra. He just needed a way to break the barrier so he could access his chakra.

He decided to dump logic for this situation and force his way like a brute. An idea that would probably not work, but worth trying. Considering that this was his body and mind, the barrier would be only strong enough so he could break it with enough effort.

He pulled his hand back, and punched it ground as hard as he could. He repeated this for nineteen times. On the twentieth time, a small crack appeared on the floor. Naruto noticed the crack and grinned in satisfaction. 'About time you cracked', he thought. Redoubling his efforts, he saw that with every punch, the crack widened. At last, the crack was big enough that he knew it would break in one last punch.

Pulling back his fist, he brought it back down with all the force he could muster. As soon as his fist connected, the ground shattered from beneath him and he was assaulted by absolute euphoria. He felt complete now, the earlier feeling of something missing now completely gone.

But the force with which the chakra was released was so great that he was forced out of the lake in just a few moments, contrary to the time he took to reaching the bottom. The last thing he heard from Kurama before being forced out of his awake was, "Damn, I haven't felt chakra this dense and powerful since the tree hugger himself. But the midnight blue is unusual…"

XXXXXXX

Anko was watching the blonde for almost twenty minutes now. 'Just what is he hoping to accomplish?' she thought. She was getting impatient now.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she felt it. It was impossible to ignore, given how powerful the presence was. She wheeled around, eyes wide, staring at Naruto. 'He couldn't possibly be….'

Naruto's eyes opened a second before midnight blue chakra exploded from him. It was so dense and powerful that the ground around him cracked violently. Wind was blowing all around very fast by the sheer force of his chakra.

Naruto lifted his hands in front of him, seeing the beautiful midnight blue color of his chakra flowing from his body. It almost seemed to be sparkling. The feeling was so exhilarating that he almost missed Kurama's voice, 'NARUTO! YOU ARE LETTING OUT TOO MUCH CHAKRA! STOP RIGHT NOW!'

Naruto, fortunately, noticed the urgency in Kurama's voice and immediately thought about reigning it in. To his surprise, the chakra stopped exploding from him almost instantly. Unfortunately, he had already expelled too much of it. The sudden coming down from a high like that caused him to fall unconscious on his back.

Anko, who had watched the whole spectacle, was looking at Naruto with eyes wide as dinner plates. 'Was that Kyuubi's chakra that exploded from him? No, the Kyuubi's chakra is orange. The chakra that exploded from him was blue. An unusual, darker shade, but blue nonetheless, which means that the chakra was his!' she thought incredulously.

Her one hand was now on her mouth, 'The amount that he was letting out can easily rival the Sandaime's! But how did he unlock it, and that too so early?'

All kinds of questions were flashing through her mind, but seeing the kid fall unconscious on his back, she rushed to him, checking to see of he was alright. A sigh of relief escaped her when she saw that he had just collapsed from mild chakra exhaustion.

'He must be only five to six years old. Unlocking chakra at such a young age is unheard of! Most children unlock it after spending a year at the academy and this kid does it beforeeven entering the academy?!' she thought incredulously.

It suddenly occurred to her that a blast of chakra like that would have attracted attention of almost all the shinobi in the village. Shinobi training kicking in, she picked the kid up and vanished in a shunshin to the Hokage's office.

XXXXXXX

The Hokage sat in his chair, eyes glaring at the giant pile of paperwork that seems to materialize out of nowhere and just as he finishes the previous file.

He was ridiculously irritated at how it so innocently sat in front of him. 'This is ridiculous! This blasted paperwork has to be a force of nature! There is no end to it, at all! It is always mocking me!'

To anyone else watching it, including the ANBU guards in the room, it seemed hilarious how the Hokage was locked in a glaring contest with paperwork of all things. But the captain of the ANBU group could relate to his boss, having to deal with something similar after every mission they do.

Hiruzen finally lost his patience after staring at it for almost fifteen minutes. So infuriated was the old kage that he positioned his hands into a Tiger seal and took a deep breath, intent on burning the paperwork away.

He was one second from setting the paperwork on fire when he sensed it. The powerful burst of chakra; so powerful that he was sure almost every shinobi in the village felt it, sensor or not.

'What was that? I didn't know any shinobi of mine was capable of releasing chakra at his scale. From what I sensed, it was powerful, overwhelmingly so, but there was no intention in that burst of chakra. No evil or good, it simply was neutral. Just what is going on?' he thought.

He decided that any shinobi who might be near the burst of chakra would respond and report to him shortly. With that, he turned his attention back onto the table and put his hands on it, closing his eyes. Five minutes later, his door was knocked. He answered, "Come in."

The door opened to show his secretary, Ikumi, a middle aged woman, gesturing towards a purple haired kunoichi carrying a familiar child with blonde hair in her arms.

"Naruto, what happened to you now?" he thought in worry as he quickly gestured her inside. Anko gently laid Naruto on the couch in the office and then turned to face the Hokage.

His eyes were hardened, having the look of a true, legendary shinobi instead of the man who was reduced to doing paperwork. His voice had an edge of steel, "What happened, Anko?"

Anko was not nervous at all, as she had done no wrong, "Hokage-sama, I was just passing by the training fields when I saw Naruto Uzumaki sitting in the middle of a training field in a meditating position. I was curious, so I hid from his sight and observed for anything that would happen. Twenty minutes passed and I was about to leave when I saw the most extraordinary thing Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. A burst of powerful chakra and Anko comes to him with an unconscious Naruto? There seemed to be a link here. "What did you witness, Anko?"

"A burst of chakra so powerful that I haven't felt anything like it before, Hokage-sama. The ground around him seemed to crack just by the force of his chakra!"

Hiruzen's eyebrows went upwards in a disbelieving motion, "You mean to say that Naruto here", he gestured to the boy on the couch, "Unlocked his chakra and the burst of chakra from before was his chakra?!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Anko nodded in agreement. Hiruzen sat back in his chair, finding it quite hard to believe what Anko had told him. However, Anko had no reason to lie to him. Still, how was this possible?

"Anko", he said to the kunoichi, "Stay here right now until he wakes up. I believe we should hear this right from the source", he said, looking at Naruto.

XXXXXXX

Naruto was lying on his back in his mindscape, staring at the sky. Kurama was right beside him, head rested on his hands, looking content. Naruto sat up, eyes blinking around in confusion, "What happened?"

Kurama replied in a bored tone, "You fell unconscious. It's as simple as that."

Naruto eyes widened in realization, "I unlocked my chakra! So what does that mean for my body, Kurama?" he asked, eager to address the problem of his absence of chakra coils.

Kurama glanced at him, "I observed the release of your chakra. And I have good news. You can still control your chakra."

Naruto seemed to practically melt in relief at that, "That is good."

"I wasn't finished", Kurama's voice brought him back again, "Your absence of chakra coils actually makes it easier for you to control your chakra. You can directly control it, without having to rely on chakra coils. Which means, you will actually have excellent chakra control."

Hearing this, Naruto started jumping around in joy. He would be able to become a shinobi after all! Moreover, his chakra control would be excellent! Kurama was quick to burst his bubble, however.

Continuing in the same lazy tone as before, Kurama said, "You were lucky, however. Most people would not be so fortunate as to controlling chakra without chakra coils."

Naruto stopped dancing around and turned to Kurama with wide eyes, "Then why am I different?"

At this Kurama shrugged and didn't bother to answer, saying only one thing before falling back asleep, "Start training to use it."

With Kurama now asleep, Naruto had nothing to do in his mindscape. 'Might as well wake up', he thought. He walked up to a stream and promptly fell face first into it.

XXXXXXX

It had been over ten minutes since they were waiting for Naruto to wake up. Anko honestly did not know why the Hokage had asked her to wait in his office. But she had to follow whatever the Hokage said, so she waited, albeit impatiently.

Hiruzen on the other hand was contemplating on what to do. He was in his classic thinking pose, elbows on his desk, chin rested on his hands and eyes closed. If what Anko had said was really true and Naruto had really unlocked his chakra, then perhaps it was time to begin Naruto's training. He had thought that Naruto would grow up normally in the academy, but it seemed nothing was normal if it was connected to Naruto. Maybe he could get Anko to train him…

Suddenly he heard a groan from where Naruto was laid. His and Anko's eyes snapped to there as Naruto sat up, looking no worse for wear. His eyes seemed confused as he did not seem to recognize where he was. However as soon as he saw him and Anko, the weariness clouding his eyes suddenly disappeared, replaced by cautiousness.

"How the hell did I get here?" he mumbled as he studied the purple haired kunoichi. He had never seen her before.

The kunoichi spoke in a rude tone, "I brought you here after you successfully alerted the entire shinobi force of this village. What the hell were you even doing in the training field, brat?!"

Naruto suddenly remembered that he had unlocked his chakra successfully and did not stop the full blown grin on his face. "Unlocking my chakra", he replied in a cool tone.

"But how did you know to unlock your chakra, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked curiously. A five year old child unlocking their chakra, without any outside help was simply unheard of. Not to mention how powerful the chakra was.

Naruto did not think that he would be dragged into the Hokage's office to explain how he unlocked his chakra. He needed time to build up a lie about this. Unfortunately, he didn't have it as both of them were looking at him expectantly. So he just gave them his patented 'Making-you-feel-stupid-with-a-simple-look" look.

Both of them sweat dropped, thinking along the lines of 'How does he do that so well?!'

Fortunately for Naruto, it allowed him time to come up with a convincing lie, "Well, chakra is inside everyone right? I thought if I looked deep inside myself, I would find it too. For the you-know-what, right jiji?"

Hiruzen looked confused for a moment, but realized it. Naruto wanted to unlock his chakra to get access to his parents' things left behind for him. But now, time to address the elephant in the room.

"Now that you have unlocked your chakra Naruto-kun, what will you do?"

Naruto frowned for a moment and crossed his hands, causing Anko to hold back her urge to hug him and yell 'Kawai!' The kid looked mighty adorable!

Naruto said, "I will train…..or so I would like to say. Unfortunately, I have no idea as to how I should proceed now. Books have always been the answer to all my problems, but I feel that books can't teach me what I need to know practically", he revealed honestly.

'Perfect', Hiruzen thought with a hidden smile. Normally he would have Naruto wait for another year, letting him join the academy and then letting him learn all he needed. But he knew that Naruto was a naturally curious child. Who knows what experiments he would do to find out what he could do. It would be dangerous to leave Naruto to his own devices, or chakra.

His eyes shifted to Anko, who was watching Naruto and barely restraining herself from glomping him. 'But if he were to get an instructor to teach him early, many consequences could be avoided. Also, since Naruto is a genius, he may not really fit in with his age group, not only because he would be far ahead of them, but also because even his generation keeps their distance from him. I also have this feeling that Naruto and Anko will bond spectacularly.'

He barely kept himself from grinning. 'Naruto can still enter the academy at the proper age and graduate with his age group class. Many of the teachers may not give him proper education because of their grudges against Kyuubi, but that treatment would be null and void if he is already so far ahead. The council will surely protest against this, calling this favoritism, but I can justify myself by saying that the village's jinchuriki must be trained early so he could be ready for anything. The foolish council members will blindly agree to this and if they don't, who are they to go against the Hokage? Oh, the pieces of Naruto's puzzle are falling together wonderfully!' he thought to himself gleefully.

Outward he said, "Then it is probably safer to get you an instructor rather than you experimenting on your own."

Anko finally caught on to the Hokage's plan as she wheeled around to face him with wide eyes, "Hokage-sama! You can't possibly-"

"I appoint Anko Mitarashi as instructor of Naruto Uzumaki, effective immediately", he declared.

Naruto's eyes, along with Kurama's, were wide as dinner plates. This was totally unexpected. Naruto never expected to get a personal instructor. He, the village pariah, jailor of Kyuubi! But he was happy, and that was all that mattered to him. For Kurama, he found it hard to believe that the old monkey had balls big enough to pull this kind of stunt in his age.

Anko protested, "B-but Hokage-sama-" "Do you have a problem with my decision, Anko?" he asked with his voice hard.

Anko immediately stood in attention, "No Hokage-sama!"

Hiruzen immediately smiled, reverting back to his grandfather persona, "Good. I knew you would have no problem!"

Anko sweat dropped at how fast the old man changed personalities. She actually thought that he was showing favoritism, because everyone knew how close he was to Naruto. But she also saw how special Naruto was. But she was not cut out to be an instructor, rather she didn't want to. She was more suited out in the field.

Turning to Naruto, he said, "Naruto, you can go back to your apartment. Anko and I have something to discuss. Also, report to the training field behind this tower, tomorrow morning, at six a.m. sharp."

Naruto nodded and immediately left through the window. Turning his attention back to the special jonin, he said, "Anko, you have to understand that this is necessary. Naruto will face many difficulties in the future, and I fear that by the time everyone acknowledges him and comes to support him, it will be too late. Also, give him a chance. He will surprise you", he said with utmost seriousness.

Anko was hesitant but nodded. Truthfully, she did not want to do this but had to anyway. The fact Hokage told the brat and her to report to the Hokage training fields was a surprise since they were exclusively reserved for the Hokage.